Swiss SailGP Team at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix
by Switzerland SailGP Team 31 Jul 2022 09:42 NZST
30-31 July 2022
Spectators watch the fleet in action on Race Day 1 of the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Plymouth in Plymouth, England © Jon Super for SailGP
Great Britain Sail Grand Prix took place over two days in Plymouth this weekend in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season so far. It was the Swiss team's third ever SailGP event and today's final race day proved to be a tricky one for the fleet, with light and shifty conditions.
In today's three-team winner-takes-all final race, Peter Burling's New Zealand SailGP Team broke the five-strong winning streak of Tom Slingsby's two-time champions, Australia SailGP Team, to take their first event win ever. The Swiss were frustrated to finish eighth overall but continue to make improvements to take forward into the season.
Driver, Sébastien Schneiter, on the racing and result, "We've just finished our third event of season three here in Plymouth. We were a bit disappointed after today's racing; yesterday we had a decent and solid day but today we didn't quite manage to get the boat off the start line, we got caught twice in no wind, so that made us start a lot later than some of the other teams.
"But once we got going the team sailed really well, with good boat handling and we caught up a lot of metres and a few boats. But we started with such a disadvantage that it was hard to come back. We are definitely seeing improvements though but would like to show it with some better results."
The team had some additional support in Plymouth, with former driver and CEO of Japan SailGP Team, Nathan Outteridge, to help fast track the team's learnings. Schneiter on the guidance, "It was really cool to have Nathan here with us in Plymouth, it worked really well, I think we took a lot of notes in the last three days! Hopefully we can work together again later in the season, it was such a great opportunity for our team for him to be here with us for this event."
Switzerland SailGP Team is supported by its main partner and Race for the Future partner, the VI Foundation. On Friday the team took three Paralympic athletes and VI Foundation Ambassadors onboard the team's cutting edge F50 race boat for a sail. Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder, Salum Kashafali, (NOR), four-time Paralympian and five-time world champion medallist, Bjørnar Erikstad (NOR) and Britain's four-time Paralympian and Triple World Champion, Hannah Stodel.
All eyes are on Copenhagen now for the next event in the European leg, the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix taking place in just three weeks (19-20 August).
sailgp.com/teams/Switzerland
Switzerland SailGP Plymouth line up:
Sébastien Schneiter (SUI) - driver<
Stuart Bithell (GBR) - wing trimmer
Jason Saunders (NZL) - flight controller
Richard Mason (GBR) - grinder
Julien Rolaz (SUI) - grinder
Eliot Merceron (SUI) - grinder
Laurane Mettraux (SUI) - strategist
Maja Siegenthaler (SUI) - strategiest
Jérémy Bachelin (SUI) - reserve athlete